Several People have asked how I have done my nets, so I decided to make a tutorial.

After 6 months of wrestling with the net in high winds on a ladder with a hand full of zip ties, I got fed up.

1-Planning
2-Supplies
3-Getting to work

Planning

When deciding to put up new net for a new field or adding to a current field you want to keep in mind several things. It’s best to think ahead so you don’t set up your poles only to find they’re in the wrong position.

If possible go to google maps or mapquest (whichever one has better resolution) and get an overhead aerial view of your field. This will help you visualize how the nets will look before hand.

A few things to keep in mind
-Clearance for lawn mower/bush hog(you don’t want to weed eat a 300’x4’ area every week because you didn’t leave enough clearance for a lawn mower.
-Where your entrances and exits to the playing field are going to be.
-Do you really have to net this area to keep players safe or is it just open field with no people/houses within 500ft?
-How long is the net you have and how long is the area you want to net off?

Once you have answered the questions you can start planning where to nets are going to be placed.
Poles should be placed ever 20-25ft depending of what type of net and what type of pole.
I am using 12ft net with 16ft poles sunk 4ft in the ground with sac-crete around each one.

Supplies

The most important lesson I have learned is to not skimp on net and net supplies.

Poles
-For 10ft net you want a 14ft pole. You can use 6”x4” or a round 6”-8” timber.
-For 12ft net you want a 16ft pole. 6”-8” treated timber poles are best, the 6”x4” can snap in high winds.
-For 20ft net you want at least a 24ft pole. I would use telephone poles or 12” timbers.
-1 bag of sac-crete/ pole

Net
-A net at least 12ft net (20ft hybrid would be best) is recommended for separating the main field from the staging area. 10ft net is good for separating fields.
-Taped and grommet net is very nice and worth the extra money.

Cable
-I use 5/16in galvanize steel cable. It is fairly flexible yet has a breaking strength of about 10,000lbs. The price is not too bad at .40/ft I use this for the main support of the net, guy wires, and x-bracing, but you can use a smaller/cheaper cable for x-bracing.

Hardware
-Wire clamps and lots of them
-Thimbles, not a necessity but they are nice
-Carabineers(one for each pole)
-I-bolts(one for each pole)
-1 1/2in swivel Pulley(one for each pole)
-A length of cable(small~1/8th coated) twice the height of the pole for the pulley(one for each pole)
-Boat cleat(one for each pole/except the two end poles)
-A healthy supply of zip ties is always good
-Augers anchors for the end poles
-Hand winch for each end pole

Equipment
-Auger or hand drill (post hole diggers will not work, you can only dig about 3.5ft and they are very labor intensive especially in hard soil).
-Electric drill, with wood bit
-Ratchet
-Adj. Crescent Wrench
-Come-Along (wire tightener)
-Bolt cutters
-Nice tall ladder
-If you are dealing with 20ft poles you may have to rent a man lift

Getting to work

Digging holes for the poles.
-You want to get a string or rope and lay it out to make sure all of the poles are inline.
-Measure out 25ft and make a mark (survey flag or spray paint)
Once you have all the locations marked you can start digging.
I recommend renting or borrowing an auger. If not you can use a hand auger drill but you will be tired and it is very time consuming.
Drill each hole to 4ft.

It’s best to install the eyebolts before you put the pole up, this will save you a lot of time.
You can also connect the carabineers and pulleys.

Now you are ready to set up your poles.
If you are using the 16ft poles you can lift them into place by hand (with a couple of people), the 24ft are usually too heavy and require heavy machinery.
Make sure you line up the eyebolt to the correct side (facing away from the playing field).

Once you get your poles up sac-crete them in.
Make sure you tamp the sac-crete so it settles to the bottom of the hole.

Now you can run your x-bracing.
Start at the top of one pole, wrap once around the bottom of the next pole then back up to the top of the next pole (through the I-bolt). Then come back from the other direction thus achieving the ‘x’-bracing.

Then run one cable along the bottom of the poles attaching it the first pole, looping it around the bottom of each of the next poles, then attaching it to the last pole.

You will want to run a length of cable equal to the length of the net for the ‘top’ wire.

Now install the hand winch at the first and last pole. Some winches come with cable, I find these to be the best. Run the winch cable through the pulley.

Attach the cable from the winch to the ‘top’ wire.

Now you can lay out you net between the poles and the x-bracing.

Run the top wire criss-cross through the top grommets of the net.
Then attach the end of that cable the other winch cable, not forgetting to run the winch cable through the pulley.

Next attach a boat cleat to each pole in the middle.
Attach your 1/8th in coated cable to the ‘top’ wire, run it through the pulley at the top of the pole, then tie it off on the boat cleat.
Once you have done that for each pole, you can winch up each end, the pull the middle up by hand, and tie it off on the boat cleat.
Now that you have the net up zip tie the bottom to the bottom cable you installed earlier.

This system allows 1 person to put up 100ft of next in about 5min and take it down in about 1 min.

If I left anything out or you have something to add please let me know.

I didn't see anything in there about calling your state "dig tess" (Thats Texas agency, I'm not sure what others are called). Basically you call them tell them the area you want to dig (if deeper then 2 feet). They will send out notifications to the utility companies, and they will come mark there lines. I know in Texas it's illegal not to call them before you dig.

i like every thing you said and very descriptive is there any way you could get pictures back up i need them i am installing something similar i got a bunch of 10 foot netting as a package deal so i am going to have to do 10 foot layers but other than that same thing. i am trying to do this right the first time and i will take some video and pics of mine going up every step.